Apparatus for dehydrating air.



W. A. FAIRBURN.

APPARATUS FOR DBHYDRATING'AIR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.13,1913.

Patented Fb. 9, 1915.

3 mm Mm ll zl/iallz J "hi/n UNITED STATE PATENT FF1E WILLIAM A.FAIRBURN, OF SHORT HILLS, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE DIAMOND MATCHCOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

APPARATUS FOR DEHYDRATING AIR,

ineaaao.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM A. FAIR- BURN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and resident of Short Hills, in the county of Essex and State ofNew Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inApparatus for Dehydrating Air, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for dehydrating air to adapt itfor use as an eflicient drying medium, and for other purposes.

The invention is particularly though not exclusively designed for use inthe art of manufacturing matches, in which relation it more especiallyconcerns the treatment of primary air preparatory to its introduction tothe heating and drying chamber through which wet impregnated splints areconveyed preparatory to the succeeding operations of parafiining thesplints and heading them with ignition composition.

The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus of simpleand eflicient construction and operation whereby the pri mary air isbrought into close intimate relation with a dehydrating agent, such, forexample, as calcium chlorid, and the percentage of humidity in the airthereby eliminated or materially reduced; and to this end, the inventioncomprises various novel features of construction and arrangements ofparts which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of adehydrating structure embodying the preferred form of my invention. Fig.2 is a plan, on a larger scale, with the top or'cover plate removed, thetops of the receptacle being partly shown in section to indicate moreclearly the sinuous air passages. Fig. 3 is a transverse verticalsection, as on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

l designates an elongated casing, one end of'which opens to theatmosphere or other source of primary air supply, and the other endcommunicates with a conduit 5 which leads to a chamber or compartmentcontaining the match splints or other material to be treated wi hdehydrated air. Thls conduit is equipped with a suitable fan or blower 6whereby the primary a1r may be spaced relation toeach other, arebasketlike receptacles containing a dehydrating agent, such as calciumchlorid. Each of these receptacles in its preferred form comprises aperforated bottom 7, sides 8 of wire or other reticulated material, andV-shaped air deflecting ends 9, the whole being appropriately shaped toprovide a sinuous or zig-zag receptacle of substantial length.

The sinuous sides of each basket are connected at intervalsby stay orcross-bars 10, and certain bars are extended laterally of the sides andprovided with rollers 11 which are adapted to bear upon parallel rails12 depending from and longitudinally of the top of the casing. Theserails provide trackways which constitute, in effect, a continuation ofsimilar trackways 13 supported ext'eriorly of the casing, whereby thereceptacles, or any of them, may be readily withdrawn from or run intothe casing, as need ma require. The sides of the casing are providedwith sinuous air deflecting plates 14 approximating in form that of thereticulated sides of the adjacent receptacles, and the bottom of thecasing is suitably inclined toward a median longitudinal chan- .that thedehydrating material as rapidly is not limited to the exact details ofconstruction shown and described, as the apparatus may be greatlymodified without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim 1. In an apparatus of the character dema scribed, a casing, asinuous receptacle having sides of reticulated material arranged withinsaid casing to provide longitudinally extending air passages, and meansfor establishing a fioW of' air through said passages.

2. In an apparatus of the character de scribed, a casing, a series ofsinuous receptacles arranged therein in spaced relation to each other toprovide a series of sinuous longitudinally extending air passages, saidreceptacles having sides of reticulated material, and means forestablishing" a flow of air through said passages.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, a casing, an openbasket-like receptaele therein having; V-shaped ends, and means forestablishing a current of air through said casing.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, a casing, a sinuousreceptacle having sides of reticulated material, means for

